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Sleep Patterns, and Your Heart

How Being a "Morning Person" is the Best Thing for Your Heart

We all know it can be hard if you are new to it. Waking up early. Everyone says it can be one of the best choices you can ever make, like cutting out sugar, or looking both ways before crossing the road. Despite all of these helpful but difficult to fulfill practices, you should probably start going to bed and waking up earlier. Because, U.S. Researchers from the University of Delaware, the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, and the University of Arizona College of Medicine did a study to see if duration and time of sleep are correlated with cardiovascular risk factors - such as smoking, poor diet, and being a lazy sedentary sloth, which are habits responsible for around 40 percent of cardiovascular death in the United States and United Kingdom.

To support this study, scientists used data from the U.K.’s Biobank Resource project, which strives to prevent a large range of life-threatening illnesses, including cardiovascular disease. The study consisted of 439,933 adults between a 40-69 age range, during a four-year period between 2006-2010.

Whilst in the study, participants were asked about their sleep habits, with a “short sleeper” being described as someone who sleeps less than six hours, an “adequate sleeper” being within the seven to eight-hour range, and a “long sleeper” being described as someone who sleeps nine hours or more. Subjects were also asked what they defined themselves as- “a morning person”, “a more morning than evening person”, “an evening person”, or “more evening than morning person.”

To find out about the parallels between these questions and risk factors, the participants were also asked about their levels of physical activity, time spent watching a TV or setting, fruit and vegetable intake, and smoking habits.

The Results show that getting sleep in the right amount and at the right time, reduced unhealthy lifestyle behaviors that contribute to poor cardiovascular function. Those who went to bed later, or woke up later, slept too long, or slept too little, were more likely to lead unhealthy lives and make poor health decisions. Not too shocking, but invariably true.

Through this, you could help your own bad habits by making the simple lifestyle choice of waking up earlier, and going to sleep earlier. With proper amount and constant scheduling of sleep, it’s also been proven that mental and physical health increases as the body becomes naturally timed to its own functions.